The optimist in me -- the guy who first thought Sarah Palin was a fantastic choice, before things went swiftly downhill last fall -- hopes that Reihan Salam and Mark Steyn are correct, and that her bizarre leaving of office comes from what is best about her: the sense that she's a normal person, as opposed to a denizen of Celebrity Politics Land. In this reading, her leaving office is an act of repentance. Here's Steyn:
In states far from the national spotlight, politics still attracts normal people. You're a mayor or a state senator or even the governor, but you lead a normal life. The local media are tough on you, but they know you, they live where you live, they're tough on the real you, not on some caricature cooked up by a malign alliance of late-night comics who'd never heard of you a week earlier and media grandees supposedly on your own side who pronounce you a "cancer".Then suddenly you get the call from Washington. You know it'll mean Secret Service, and speechwriters, and minders vetting your wardrobe. But nobody said it would mean a mainstream network comedy host doing statutory rape gags about your 14-year old daughter. You've got a special-needs kid and a son in Iraq and a daughter who's given you your first grandchild in less than ideal circumstances. That would be enough for most of us. But the special-needs kid and the daughter and most everyone else you love are a national joke, and the PC enforcers are entirely cool with it.
Most of those who sneer at Sarah Palin have no desire to live her life. But why not try to - what's the word? - "empathize"? If you like Wasilla and hunting and snowmachining and moose stew and politics, is the last worth giving up everything else in the hopes that one day David Letterman and Maureen Dowd might decide Trig and Bristol and the rest are sufficiently non-risible to enable you to prosper in their world? And, putting aside the odds, would you really like to be the person you'd have to turn into under that scenario?
National office will dwindle down to the unhealthily singleminded (Clinton, Obama), the timeserving emirs of Incumbistan (Biden, McCain) and dynastic heirs (Bush). Our loss.
If that's the real story, more power to her. I'm sure her kids are thrilled, and they ought to be. The pessimist in me suspects that she's getting out ahead of a big scandal. We'll see. My money's on the scandal explanation -- Sarah Palin strikes me as too fiercely ambitious to abruptly step down and risk dooming her presidential chances; she could have served out her first term and chosen not to run in 2010, focusing on the presidency without bolstering her reputation as a flake. But I'd be pleased to be wrong.
Whatever Sarah Palin intends by her resignation, it seems pretty clear that there won't be a President Palin, ever. What a year the Palin family has had, for better or for worse (I'm guessing much to the worse).
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What we've seen here from Palin's defenders is the same odious, slash and burn political style that she employed and which so annoyed the rest of us sensible people. The attitude is that if you don't like Palin, you hate big families, you wanted her to murder her Downs Syndrome baby, you don't like seeing happily married couples... It's insane. It's the same old "we're the real Americans" BS which landed her in so much trouble during the election. What's so deeply offensive about this tactic is that I honestly believe that this isn't a political tactic for them, that they believe they're the real Americans and the rest of us are all abortion-loving/gay loving/America hating "liberals."
Obviously this isn't the way to win elections so the rest of us shouldn't have to worry too much about President Palin but it breeds what I see as a dangerous opposition. This is the mindset that leads to murdering abortion doctors and security guards, i.e. the everyone's against me, blah blah blah.
We now have a very disaffected minority in this country that believes that every word out of our president is a lie (we're even seen it here amongst people who appear to be literate), that the MSM is out to get them or whatever. Rush and Fox stir this stuff up so they can make more money. I guess that's capitalism for you.
National office will dwindle down to the unhealthily singleminded (Clinton, Obama), the timeserving emirs of Incumbistan (Biden, McCain) and dynastic heirs (Bush). Our loss.
If that's the real story, more power to her. I'm sure her kids are thrilled, and they ought to be. The pessimist in me suspects that she's getting out ahead of a big scandal. We'll see. My money's on the scandal explanation -- Sarah Palin strikes me as too fiercely ambitious to abruptly step down and risk dooming her presidential chances; she could have served out her first term and chosen not to run in 2010, focusing on the presidency without bolstering her reputation as a flake. But I'd be pleased to be wrong.
It has often been reflected that the process of nominating and electing the president by its very nature eliminates all normal, healthy people. Who wants their family dragged through that kind of knothole?
This is to the republic's loss. I understand that you need abnormal ambition and drive to get into office and do the job but it would be nice if we had a process that doesn't eliminate everyone but sociopaths. If Sarah Palin has decided that she wants to live normally, more power to her. It's the most intelligent thing she's done so far.
But I'm with Rod. I'm suspecting that there's a big scandal under the rug somewhere.
Maybe there won't be a President Sarah Palin, but I wouldn't go so far as to say there won't be any President Palin ever.
I've said before and I'll say again that in fifty years we may look back on the 2008 prseidential race as our first glimpse of those gifted natural politicians, Sasha Obama and Piper Palin.
Wow are there not a lot of mean spirited people blogging here. Since all of you are so keen that Palin has no ability, knowledge, or skills to be the president, please answer me this: Out of the 44 presidents we have had please name the ones that were qualified.
Your Name, your question has no bearing on whether or not Palin was qualified for higher office. If you think she's qualified, you ought to be able to say why. Show, don't tell.
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